Built to Last: Harold Beck & Sons at 75 Years

Built to Last

The Harold Beck & Sons plant and offices in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

Built to Last

The Story of Harold Beck & Sons

Rob Levin Editor Renee Peyton Project Manager and Archivist Rena Distasio Writer Rick Korab Book and Cover Design Scott Robinson and Todd Trice New Photography Copyright Š 2012

by Harold Beck & Sons, Inc.

R

Harold Beck & Sons, Inc. 11 Terry Drive Newtown, Pennsylvania 18940 215-968-4600 www.haroldbeck.com Printed in the United States of America .

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from Harold Beck & Sons, Inc., Newtown, Pennsylvania.

Book Development by Bookhouse Group, Inc. Atlanta, Georgia www.bookhouse.net Beck control mechanisms at 45 West Durham Street in 1941.

Group 11 actuator on an ID inlet damper.

CONTENTS

Introduction Page IX

Foreword Page XII

Chapter One 1936–1955: Inventing a Better Way Page 1 Group 11 actuators on overfire air dampers.

Chapter Two 1956–1979: Building a Business Page 17

Chapter Three 1980 to the Present: Expanding the Harold Beck Tradition Page 27

Index Page 31

11-409 actuators on mill hot air and rating dampers.

For several years starting in 1942, these garages in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia were home to Harold Beck’s burgeoning business.

INTRODUCTION

Flip a switch, and a light shines. Turn a tap, and water flows. Put a key in the ignition, and a car starts. Such simple actions are vital to our everyday lives, but so commonplace that we take them for granted, rarely thinking about the technology that lies behind them.

For Harold Beck & Sons, thinking about that technology is the backbone of their business. For over seventy-five years, this privately held, family-owned and -operated company has excelled in the design, manufacture, and sale of electric actuators—devices critical to automating the process controls that drive industrial and utility plant operations. From units with eight thousand pound-feet of torque installed at major utility companies to shoebox-sized models that regulate temperature, pressure, and flow in many applications, Beck actuators help keep the world running smoothly.

While pinpointing the first use of an actuator is like pinpointing the first use of the wheel, we can trace its form and function back to the rudimentary mechanical process control devices invented during the infancy of the Industrial Revolution. For instance, Frenchman Joseph Michel Montgolfier (co-inventor of the hot air balloon) developed in 1796 self-acting pumps, or rams, to regulate the flow of water at his paper mill. Also critical to the actuation process was the 1821 invention of the world’s first electric motor by Englishman Michael Faraday, whose experiments led as well to the first transformers and generators.

As industry grew, so did the need for reliable devices that controlled the opening and closing of valves and dampers to help increase production and reduce costs. For many years pneumatic and hydraulic actuators did this motion control work as reliably as their piston/cylinder configurations would allow. With the arrival of the electric actuator, of which the Harold Beck model was one of the earliest, process control became more accurate, reliable, and efficient. Like the flick of a finger against a line of dominoes, the motor initiates a chain of reactions that converts energy into motion, driving a series of gears that turn a crank arm that opens and closes a damper or valve, which in turn regulates pressure, flow, temperature, or applies force for many other purposes.

IX

Group 11-160 actuators on Citgo Ethanol blending valves.

INTRODUCTION

Harold Beck founded his company in 1936 in Philadelphia because he was determined to create a better solution to one of heavy industry’s most pressing problems: temperature control. That solution turned out to be a unique valve- and damper-regulating electric actuator that not only improved production at aluminum and steelmaking plants, but also formed the basis of a product line that would evolve over the years into what many consider the gold standard of actuators for a wide variety of applications. Harold Beck’s early work also helped forge one of the company’s basic operating tenets: product design springs from customer need, and meeting that need is the key to the company’s success.

Today Harold Beck & Sons provides actuators for thousands of clients working in nearly a dozen industries throughout the world. Its offices and manufacturing plant in Newtown, Pennsylvania, twenty-five miles north of Philadelphia, use state-of-the-art equipment, but its product is not mass-produced—in fact, as much high touch goes into its creation as does high tech. All of these factors place Harold Beck & Sons in a unique category among American businesses operating today: the successful manufacturer of a niche product made entirely on site using materials sourced primarily from U.S.-based vendors.

A family business both literally and figuratively, it is run by Harold Beck’s grandson, Doug Beck, who continues to provide the company’s employees with a rewarding work environment that challenges their skills, encourages innovation, and engenders a sense of teamwork and pride in a job well done, all topped by one of the industry’s best compensation and benefits packages.

Harold Beck & Sons is not the largest actuator manufacturing company in existence, but given its company principles, exemplary quality of product and service, and skilled sales, engineering, and production team, It is certainly one of the best.

XII

FOREWORD

This book is dedicated to my grandfather, Harold C. Beck and to all the employees, past and present, who contributed to the success of the Company over the last 75 years. Dedicated and talented employees are the lifeblood of any successful company and we have been blessed with an abundance of both. It is gratifying to see all of you using your God-given gifts and talents to help the Company succeed.

This book is an attempt to cover the history of Beck in a concise manner. Though all of the numerous stories and pictures could not be included, you will still find many interesting facts and pictures that help to tell the story of Harold Beck & Sons.

The Company’s longevity can be attributed to many things, though I believe our attention to detail in product design and manufacturing, taking care of our customers, and attracting and retaining outstanding employees have had the most impact.

We are entering a new chapter in the history of the company with our new 24,000 sq. ft. addition that will be completed in May. The project encountered few problems and generally went smoothly, thanks to the efforts of many of you. This new capacity will allow us to prepare for the future, which will include a substantial increase in international business.

On behalf of my father, Harold R. Beck and my uncle, Bruce C. Beck, we thank you, the retirees and current employees of Harold Beck & Sons, for your commitment to the company over the years. Your hard work and skill have established Beck as a leader in the design, manufacturing, sales and support of electric actuators.

The values that have served us so well since 1936 will continue to guide us as we move forward with our mission of providing outstanding products, services and support to our customers around the world.

Douglas C. Beck President & CEO May 18, 2012

XII

Company founder Harold C. Beck

INTRODUCTION

Left to right: Bob, Harold, Bruce and Floss Beck in 1946.

XVI

Built to Last: The Story of Harold Beck & Sons Chapter One

1936–1955

Inventing a BetterWay An Extraordinary Mind

Like many families that had

of them traveling by the trolley that turned around at the end

weathered the worst years of the Great Depression, those liv-

of Rex Avenue. The day ended with supper, homework, and the

ing in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood in the early

evening paper

1930s took comfort in life’s daily routines. Milk was delivered

Still, memories of hard times lingered: Pennsylvania had

promptly every morning, followed by the ice that kept it cool.

posted some of the nation’s highest unemployment rates dur-

Breakfast of farm-fresh eggs and maybe some bacon popped

ing the Depression, hitting a high of 37 percent by 1933. The

and sizzled in the skillet. Mothers ushered children off to school

ensuing recovery was a fragile one, and by 1936 few people

and fathers donned topcoats and hats for jobs in the city, many

would have considered starting their own business.

1

Left to right: Bruce Beck sitting with his mother, Floss. Bruce Beck as a toddler. Bob Beck climbing a trellis and playing in sandbox while his grandmother supervises. Below: The garage at the 18 Rex Avenue home where Harold Beck first started working on his revolutionary ideas to improve temperature control in industrial furnaces. Far page: Bob Beck 1932

1 9 3 6 — 1 9 5 5 Inside his home at 18 Rex Avenue, however, Harold Beck

Harold Beck’s love for all things mechanical led him to pur-

was thinking of doing just that. While his wife, Florence, took

sue a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Penn-

care of their home and family, Harold worked full-time as an

sylvania while also working part-time as an electrician. After

engineer during the week and spent evenings and weekends focused on perfecting his long-simmering idea for improving tem-

sat “onMythegrandmother Frankford High

dest son, Bob Beck. “My father was a kind

School board, but she believed that young boys should not remain in school beyond noontime, instead, they should go outside and explore.

man, a quiet man, a thinking man, and he

— Bob Beck

perature control in large industrial furnaces.

Born in 1900, the youngest of four sons, and raised in Philadelphia’s Frankford neighborhood, Harold Beck possessed from an early age an “inventor’s mind,” recalls his el-

”

graduation he landed a job with Brown Instruments (Honeywell) in Evanston, Illinois, selling pyrometers to steel and aluminum manufacturers.

Precision Temperature Control Measuring temperature in industrial furnaces was one thing. Controlling it was quite another. “Someone was always fiddling with the valves—a little more open or a little more

possessed extraordinary ideas and the deter-

closed,” says Bob Beck of the early processes.

mination to see them to fruition.”

“Temperature in the furnace was typically

These qualities were no doubt nurtured

determined by observing the color of the

from childhood, thanks to a civil engineer father

flame. My father, who focused not so much

and a mother with some unusual child-rearing

on selling as on solving problems, would go

ideas. “My grandmother sat on the Frankford

into these plants and see that, thinking, There

High School board, but she believed that young

has to be a better way.”

boys should not remain in school beyond noon-

That better way meant eliminating the

time,” says Bob Beck. “Instead, they should go

need for constant human monitoring. It

outside and explore.” Excused from afternoons spent behind a

meant automatic control. When he returned to Philadelphia

desk, Harold Beck was free to tinker on a variety of projects, one of

in the late 1920s and took an engineering job with Leeds and

which included building a motorcycle from scratch.

Northrup, he began to develop his idea in earnest.

3

The company’s second “headquarters,” the Beck family home at 223 West Mt. Airy Avenue.

1 9 3 6 — 1 9 5 5 Much of his work was involved with actuators that were part

“There was no zoning, no regulations,” Bob Beck remem-

of the Leeds and Northrup product line. However, Harold Beck

bers. “All my father did was go around to all the neighbors,

was not satisfied with the design and performance of this equip-

asking if it was okay if the men he hired park their cars in the

ment. During a conversation with a GE salesman, he realized

street in front of the house and work in the basement. You

that the unique motor that GE was actually about to stop pro-

couldn’t do that today.”

ducing was exactly what he needed to achieve the kind of precise positioning

Left to right: Bruce and Bob Beck in 1942.

required for good control.

Aluminum and World War II As required by furnace design at that

In 1936 Harold Beck quit his job

time, early valves and damper units

and struck out on his own to perfect

were either open, closed, or multiposi-

the design of his product. Because

tioned. The system needed to achieve

manufacturing his invention required

the accurate and smooth continuous

more space and equipment, later on

control that Harold Beck envisioned,

that year he moved his family to a

however, required a mechanical inte-

larger home with a basement at 223

grator in the actuator and an electric

West Mt. Airy Avenue in Philadel-

controller to position the actuator.

phia. He also contracted with an elec-

Thus the first triple-function control

tronics engineer on a part-time basis

system was born. Driven by its unique

to design an electronic controller, one

motor with its virtually instant stop-

of the factors that would contribute to

and-start quality and no “burnout”

the actuator’s unique function. The following year, on Septem-

feature, this triple-function system created the following: a pro-

ber 7, 1937, Harold Beck made his first sale—six units to the

portional position response to a change in temperature, an inte-

Carnegie Illinois Steel Company in Pittsburgh. Serious produc-

gral action in the actuator that was achieved by making perma-

tion began—a true home-based business, with offices on the

nent a percentage of each proportional corrective stroke, and an

second floor and production in the basement.

accelerating pulse from the controller that would anticipate the 5

CHAPTER ONE

6

1 9 3 6 — 1 9 5 5

7

CHAPTER ONE

need for another micro position change. This revolutionary system made Harold Beck’s actuator and electronic controller the only one of its kind on the market that precisely and automatically controlled temperature and corrected for its fluctuations, all without individual attention. The resulting savings of time, money, and energy didn’t go unnoticed by the U.S. steel and aluminum industry, and companies throughout Pennsylvania and west to Chicago began purchasing Beck actuators.

The triple-function system also helped many of these companies meet the accelerated demands of wartime production. When the United States entered World War II in 1942, it contracted with the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) to begin a massive furnace-building program to provide the basic building materials for WWII aircraft. According to its company website, over the next three years ALCOA built eight smelters, eleven fabricating plants, and four refineries. Harold Beck’s actuators were used almost exclusively in the service of that production.

Out of the Basement In 1942 Harold Beck moved his expanding production from his home to a series of garages in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia. Originally built to house neighborhood cars, they had reHarold Beck’s original actuator design. Some of these are still in service today.

mained unoccupied for years because of gasoline rationing. By 1945 the company outgrew even these quarters and moved operations to a three-story building at 3640 N. Second Street in Philadelphia.

8

Company headquarters from 1945 to 1970: 3640 N. Second Street in Philadelphia.

Then, as now, each actuator was subjected to rigorous testing at many steps in the production process before final completion and delivery.

1 9 3 6 — 1 9 5 5

The three-story brick building offered plenty of room for

pour it into a small siphon cup attached to the spray gun (large

production, with the machine shop on the ground floor, assem-

pressure tanks would come much later). Weather played a factor

bly on the second, and the electronics shop and offices on the

in his progress as well. “In winter it would get so cold,” he says,

third. John Tuono, a toolmaker hired in 1966 who worked his way up to senior manufacturing engineer before retiring in 2005, has

One of the company’s longest-tenured employees, June Rouhlac, spray-painting a series of crank arms.

“I’d have to wait for the steam heat to come up before I could start to paint.” Many times, that wouldn’t happen until long after lunch.

vivid memories of those early days. “That old

In the interim, June kept busy with other

building,” he remembers, laughing, “the way

tasks, including loading product on and off

it was structured, if it rained, everyone on

the elevator, which was operated by an old-

the ground floor had to grab a broom. There

fashioned rope-and-pulley system. “One day,

wasn’t any air conditioning, either.” But Har-

I forgot my gloves and didn’t want to go back

old Beck and his staff had plenty of drive—

downstairs to get them,” he says. “I figured

and machinery. “A lot of our equipment was

I’d just use my bare hands to pull the eleva-

left over from the war,” Tuono says. “As war

tor up.” After only a few pulls on the rope, he

production declined, those machines ended

seared his hands and quickly let go. “It was

up being stored in warehouses where com-

like an airplane taking a dive,” he says. “That

panies like ours eventually could buy them.”

whole load crashed right to the ground floor. I

Almost exclusively belt-driven, they were

thought Leon [Glicka, his supervisor] was go-

nonetheless considered modern for the time.

ing to fire me for sure!”

June Rouhlac, one of the company’s lon-

But Leon didn’t fire him. Instead he

gest-tenured employee, provides another peek

taught him how to also run the shear and

into the past. Hired in 1969 as a spray painter, when he first started

the drill press, and how to clean the units. Perhaps no one still

he painted seven to ten units every two to three days. Today he

working for Beck today has been exposed to such a wide vari-

averages about twenty a day. Back then his work was time-con-

ety of actuator parts—nearly every part at one time or another

suming and messy—he had to hand mix each batch of paint and

passes by Rouhlac’s workstation. “I can’t believe how the years 11

Mounting actuators onto their valves, one at a time and by hand, was just one of many tasks that required exceptional skill and attention to detail.

CHAPTER ONE

1 9 3 6 — 1 9 5 5 have accumulated,” he says, “but I’m not going anywhere. The

ferent early warning radar surveillance systems operating across

job is a good job, the people are good people, and I get a lot of

northern Canada. Even Beck’s competitors recognized the su-

satisfaction seeing the completed product go out the door.”

periority of the smaller company’s equipment. Many regularly purchased Beck controllers and actuators for resale as packages

Post War Years

coupled with their temperature-measuring equipment.

By 1943 ALCOA and other companies were running their fur-

In addition to the triple-function system, other equipment

naces at full capacity, and Harold Beck sought additional busi-

with unique features was designed and put into production, in-

ness. The precision machining developed to produce Beck’s

cluding the Putmo electronic controllers for electric furnaces

actuators earned the attention of the U.S. Air Force, which con-

and a variety of time/temperature programmers for numerous

tracted with the company to build and assemble part of Carl

heat treating applications.

Norden’s top-secret M-1 bomb-sight mechanisms, at the time

Thanks largely to his focus and hard work—and that of his

one of the U.S. government’s most closely guarded secrets. Fur-

employees—Harold Beck’s ideas for a better way were now an

ther contributing to the national defense during the 1950s, many

integral part of improving production for public and private in-

Beck triple-function control systems were installed in two dif-

dustry throughout North America. HB&S

A row of milling machines to mill actuator body castings.

13

Inside the machine shop at the N. Second Street plant: Mack McHugh (left) is shown operating a turret lathe while Frank Colline loads a gear blank onto a gear shaper.

Although only separated by about twenty-five Newtown, Pennsylvania, in 1970 was as bucolic as Philadelphia was urban. When Harold Beck & Sons broke ground on their new plant just outside the historic town, they did so on land surrounded by dairies and small farms.

Built to Last: The Story of Harold Beck & Sons Chapter Two

1956–1979

Building a Business The Turnaround Years By the mid-1950s Harold Beck’s two

the backburner to enlist in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean

sons, Bob and Bruce, had graduated from high school and were

conflict as a B-26 pilot. Fortunately the war ended before he went

making plans to follow in their father’s footsteps as engineers.

into combat, and he returned home to join his father’s company

Their eventual participation in the company would prove one of

in 1956. He continued his education in electronics with night

the key elements that moved Harold Beck & Sons forward.

classes at Drexel University, eventually earning a bachelor’s de-

Bob Beck’s journey began when he enrolled in Lehigh Uni-

gree in electronics engineering. His brother, Bruce, who gradu-

versity to study mechanical engineering. Soon, however, his in-

ated from Cornell University with a degree in mechanical engi-

terest shifted toward electronics. In 1951 he put that interest on

neering, joined the company a few years later.

17

CHAPTER TWO

At this point the post–World War II wave that Harold

didn’t burn out like conventional induction motors even if it

Beck & Sons rode for so many years was beginning to subside.

stalled. The motor and other unique design features created an

Although the company still employed about a dozen people,

actuator that was truly revolutionary.”

gross sales were trending down. By 1958 they had hit a company low of $158,000 in gross annual sales.

But Bob Beck also remembers 1958 as their “turnaround year.” With the company’s reputation for high-quality actuators as solid as ever, it also hoped to expand sales of another product, their Putmo electronic controllers for electric furnaces and time/ temperature programmers for heat-treating applications. However, says Bob Beck, “Increasing the volume of our sales was proving a challenge. It became apparent that if we were going to sell the whole system we knew that it would require a significant amount of hand-holding with the customer. We just did not have the resources to do that.”

My father would “ talk to me about what

he’d observed over the years in great salesmen: intelligence and an understanding not just of the product, but of the psychology of people. He also taught me how to target the right people and not waste time with those who can’t influence the sale.

—Bruce Beck

But the brothers noticed something in-

”

Sales Force and Product Development Harold Beck took his son’s advice and shut down all electronic activity in controllers and programmers to concentrate on expanding the size, design, and application of his actuators. Now they just needed to get the word out to customers. Although trained as an engineer, Bruce Beck pictured a different role for himself at his father’s company.

“When I first joined, we didn’t have a sales force,” he says. “But my father would talk to me about what he’d observed over the years in great salesmen: intelligence and an understanding not just of the product, but of the psychology of people. He also taught me how to target the right people and not waste time with those who can’t influence the sale.”

teresting: requests for Beck actuators were increasing, prompt-

For years, Beck had sold its actuators through instrument and

ing Bruce to suggest they concentrate solely on the product

furnace company middlemen, usually at a substantial discount.

for which they’d originally gained renown. “We had a prime

Bruce Beck wanted to do it differently. “I decided it was time to take

mover in that motor,” he says. “It positioned precisely, and it

credit where credit was due and not have it diluted by competitors.”

18

Top left: senior sales engineer Dave Sylvanus sizes a competitor’s actuator for replacement with a Beck model. Top right: Group 11 actuator on a scrubber booster fan damper.

Below: Group 11-400 actuators on ID fan.

19

CHAPTER ONE

Machinist Ed Moleski operating the company’s first automatic chucking machine. Acquired in the early 1970s, the machine allowed for automated precision lathing and grinding of a variety of actuator parts. Far right: Jack Griggs (left) and Dave Bray prepare an actuator for shipping.

1 9 5 6 — 1 9 7 9 He remembers his first direct sale: “I received a call from a

The End User Is King

fellow at one of the big cement companies in the Midwest. This

In today’s industries, being down for even a few hours can mean

was sometime in 1964, and he had a potential order for sixty

millions of dollars in lost revenue, which is why Beck actuators are

units—substantial even by today’s standards. He said to me,

or more, as opposed to most competitors’ one-year—and a team

backed by one of the best warranties in the business—three years

‘Look, Bruce, I’m the one pushing for your product, but the

of sales professionals who crisscross the globe ensuring the highest

valve company is doing its darndest to knock your product out

Retired inspector Jack Griggs spent several decades in field

levels of customer satisfaction. service work and embodied Beck’s core value of always doing right

of the box. If you [sell it directly] to me, you have the order.’ I

by the customer. Years ago

said, ‘Fine,’ and that was the end of all discounts.”

while en route to a service call in New York City with

Today the company’s sales force covers a territory that

colleague Jeff McDonald, the

spans the globe, but their philosophy is the same as that forged

lip on the back bumper of a semi-tractor trailer caught

by Bruce Beck decades ago: the end user is king. “The key is

the rear window of their

not to make a phone call, but to visit these plants directly and

rental car while crossing the George Washington Bridge. The tractor-trailer dragged them along

get the actuator in front of the guys in the plant,” says sales en-

the wall nearly the entire span of the bridge, completely destroying

gineer Dave Sylvanus, who has traveled in the service of Beck

the right side of the vehicle. When the driver finally realized what

products since he first joined the company in 1989. “No, we’re

without missing a beat convinced the driver to transport them into

was happening and stopped, Griggs and McDonald jumped out and

not going to compete on price, but we save our clients money

the city to the waiting client. “You never know what’s going to happen

in the long run. We put out a very rugged, very precise, electric

happy, so you’d better be prepared to do whatever it takes.”

on a service call,” says Griggs, “but your job is to make the client Marketing and application engineering manager Scott Kempf says,

actuator with a motor that does not burn out. Once we install

“All our salespeople have backgrounds in engineering, and each leans

it, it runs for years.”

toward a particular area. Then we cross-train them. If a customer calls

Sometimes even for decades. Senior inspector Jack Griggs,

in with a problem or a need, they get an experienced sales engineer or a

who hired on in 1970, recounts how someone at ALCOA just

one of the design engineers on the phone to solve the problem, or we

member of my application engineering team. If necessary, we may get may send a sales engineer to the site to check it out.”

recently sent a unit back to the plant for repair. “It was marked

And, says sales manager Kevin Modic, they do not have a typical

‘Department of the Army,’ and we’d made it in 1946. But they

sales mentality. “Some salespeople at other companies are always apologizing to their customers for product performance, or selling

don’t want a new one; they want us to fix the old one. We’re

them something they don’t need. We don’t have to do that here.”

currently in the process of sending it back as operational.”

21

Top and bottom: Various stages of construction of the new plant in Newtown, 1969. Middle left: Bob Beck touring the construction site. Middle right: Bruce Beck (far left) observing placement of new sign.

1 9 5 6 — 1 9 7 9 And if something does fail? “You can’t have a high–end,

gross sales nearly tenfold of what they’d been a decade be-

premium product that people pay more for upfront without

fore—in 1969 the company reached its first million-dollar

having the service to back it up,” says Sylva-

mark in units shipped—it was also eco-

“

nomically viable. Construction began in

town’s beautifully preserved central business

You can’t have a high–end, premium product that people pay more for upfront without having the service to back it up.

“Even if it’s the weekend, all the client has to do is call us up and we can get them a replacement by the next day.

district was placed on the National Register

—Dave Sylvanus

ing out how to prepare the company for

nus. “Even if it’s the weekend, all the client has to do is call us up and we can get them a replacement by the next day.”

From Philly to Farmland Founded in 1683 by William Penn and located about twenty-five miles north of Philadelphia in Bucks County, Newtown, Pennsylvania, thrived for hundreds of years as a small commerce hub largely surrounded by farmland. About the same time that New-

”

1969, and by 1970 the company moved into its expansive new home.

But as Harold Beck & Sons was experiencing a boom in business, the nation’s economy was heading for what looked like a bust thanks to the recession of 1970–1975. Still, the company that had been established during the Great Depression was not about to panic. Instead, management concentrated on developing previously neglected projects and figur-

of Historic Places in 1969, three miles to

the next up cycle. And they did it without

the east in the middle of the countryside,

laying off a single employee.

the newly established Newtown Industrial

This was also the perfect time to re-

Commons was attracting light manufactur-

search emerging technologies. John Tuo-

ing business to the area.

no remembers Bob Beck calling him into

Down in Philadelphia, the neighbor-

his office and telling him, “I have some-

hood surrounding Harold Beck & Sons

thing different for you to do.” That some-

was rapidly deteriorating. The building was old, and space

thing different was research into numerically controlled

was becoming cramped. It was time to relocate, and with

(NC) machining.

23

Moving day from the Philadelphia to Newtown plant in 1969 was a company-wide effort. Below right: Bob Beck’s wife, Connie.

Above: Harold C. Beck examines the comapny’s first NC machine in 1972.. Below: Cliff Hayward operating the first NC machine.

CHAPTER TWO

Then, as now, Harold Beck & Sons manufactured a high

he bought our very first computer, a Data General the size of

percentage of their actuators’ components. It was just one of

a microwave with 256K of memory. The two dual 33K remov-

the ways in which they could ensure quality production of the very best units available on the market. Figuring out how to tool those components with more precision and efficiency was always a top priority.

The company’s very first NC machine, purchased from Pratt and Whitney, was soon up and running. “Prior to this type of equipment, parts were made on single-purpose machines,” Tuono explains. “Making just one part involved anywhere from four to five different steps on different machines.”

But the new electronically controlled machines performed anywhere from two to three steps in a single tooling process, effectively cutting production time by as much as 50 percent. In those days only the very largest companies employed NC technology, says Tuono, so it gave the company an important competitive edge.

able disk drives were contained in cabinets

“

Bob had the idea to organize everything we did on the computer,” Griggs recalls. “So he bought our very first computer, a Data General the size of a microwave with 256K of memory. The two dual 33K removable disk drives were contained in cabinets so large that we housed them in the office clothes closet and kept them cool with a watercooled air conditioner system. It was like having a new baby.

—Jack Griggs

Jack Griggs was also in on the ground

”

so large that we housed them in the office clothes closet and kept them cool with a water-cooled air conditioner system. It was like having a new baby.”

Tuono also remembers those days. “Bob Beck was always very forward thinking,” he says. “Even though we were a small company, Bob also knew that if you wanted to stay competitive, you had to stay on top of the latest technologies.”

That meant research and development in-house as well, as evidenced by Bob’s ideas for a design of a new electronic signal receiver (ESR) that enabled Beck actuators to accept voltage and milliamp signals.

“That opened a market for us that didn’t exist before,” says Bruce Beck. “It required less wiring than old receivers and it really flew. Since a large majority of our business at the time was replacing old equipment,

floor of new technology acquisitions. “Bob had the idea to or-

we were now compatible with both types of signals, which

ganize everything we did on the computer,” Griggs recalls. “So

meant much less downtime for our customers.”

26

Group 11 Actuator on overfire air dampers.

CHAPTER TWO

Left to right: Bob and Bruce Beck in 1941, and, today.

Like Father, Like Sons

remember “Pappa Beck” doing his monthly tour of the plant and

By 1979 the company Harold Beck had founded as a sole pro-

front offices, a habit his older son, Bob, picked up. Engineering’s

prietorship had grown from a few hundred thousand dollars

Dale Shemeley, who started in the machine shop in 1979, echoes

a year in sales to a few million dollars. A new generation was

the sentiments of many employees who were impressed with

also leading it: in 1975, after suffering a series of small strokes,

Bob Beck’s hands-on approach. “He used to come around to the

Harold Beck stepped down and sold the business to his sons. He

shop and shake the hands of new employees. Here, you’re not

eventually passed on in 1984, but his legacy remains an integral

just a number. Bob knew the name of everyone working in the

part of company operations. To this day, many employees fondly

company, and their wives or husbands, too.”

28

1 9 5 6 — 1 9 7 9

High Touch Meets High Tech The Beck actuator features technologically advanced electronics; a durable, no-burnout motor; cast aluminum housings; and precision gears shaped by a CNC gear shaper. The automated CNC gear shaper is equipped with a robotic arm that picks a gear blank from a pallet and places it in the work holding fixture on the machine. It then unloads a fully machined gear and places it on a return pallet. But regardless how much technology advances, the role of the human hand—and eye—in crafting a Beck actuator will never be wholly supplanted.

Assembler Donna Pirmann is responsible for some of the most precise handwork that goes into a Beck actuator, including soldering thin-gauged wire onto strain gages—all meticulously performed with the aid of a high-power magnifying glass or microscope. “Precision work like this cannot be effectively automated, especially at our level of production,” says manufacturing manager Paul Mullen.

Nor can automation substitute for the many years of experience embodied in the shop’s assemblers, machinists, and painters, many of whom can tell just by looking at or feeling a part if something has been done correctly. And you cannot automate the close attention given to outgoing shipments by Shipping’s Dave Bray, often the last set of eyes that sees the actuator out the door: “If for some reason a visual problem gets by someone else, it most likely won’t get by me.”

All Beck products are packaged with the same level of quality and care that they receive throughout the manufacturing process. Bray ensures that each customer order arrives at its destination intact and ready for installation. “My job,” he says, “is to always think about the

The company under Bob and Bruce Beck was not only

person at the receiving end of the package.”

growing, it was also evolving into a family business in every sense of the word, defined by the tenets of doing right by both client and employee. “We’ve always considered it our job to solve problems, not just sell a product,” says Bob Beck. “And we feel obligated to do that well so our employees also feel that they are a part of something substantial.” HB&S

29

John Padro calibrating the CPS on an 11-150.

30

Built to Last: The Story of Harold Beck & Sons Chapter Three

1980–PRESENT

Expanding the Harold Beck Tradition Forward Thinking Throughout its product development

Bob Beck. “It was an evolutionary process, applying changing

history, Harold Beck & Sons has followed a variant of the de-

technologies, newer materials, and better components to con-

sign tenet that form follows function. “It was a matter of look-

tinually improve our existing products.”

ing at what was going on in various industries and thinking

“That type of thinking goes back to the founder,” says

of how we could find a way to improve their operations,” says

former engineering manager John Mellors, who retired from 31

CHAPTER THREE

the company after nearly thirty-two years. “Harold Beck had

Harold Beck & Sons also expanded its capabilities in sales

foresight, and he passed that progressive thinking along to

and marketing by conducting additional market research and

his sons. In some ways the company met existing demands;

hiring their first sales manager. Data processing operations

but in many other ways, it was ahead of its time, producing

were improved with the purchase of a Digital Equipment Cor-

and promoting products that were the first of their kind.”

Although the U.S. economy was once again entering into a recession, Harold Beck

poration VAX-based 11/780 computer and Senior electrical engineer Brian Paris at Constellation Energy’s Wagner Station near Baltimore, Maryland, observing the positioning performance of one of the first Group 22 drives.

software and by training support personnel.

Product development expanded to include new products for its changing markets while

& Sons started the 1980s with its best year to

continuing to improve present lines, and

date. Many customers were finalizing proj-

machining capability was upgraded by pur-

ects that had already been planned, and the

chasing a state-of-the-art horizontal Mazak

company’s successful expansion into the ce-

machining center and improving many of its

ment industry in the 1970s and its growing

manufacturing procedures. Also crucial to

progress in electric utilities helped Harold

the company’s successful navigation of the

Beck & Sons to see its way clear to expand

economic downturn was personnel’s com-

its facilities.

mitment to working outside their normal

Unlike companies that respond to reces-

duties to help achieve results that enhanced

sions with layoffs and by canceling capital

their chances for continued success.

expenditures, Harold Beck & Sons has always seen economic downturns as opportunities to

The Power Utilities Market

invest in the future by upgrading present op-

By the mid-1980s, many coal-fired power

erations. Recoveries eventually do come, sometimes quickly and

plants were slowly starting to replace outmoded equipment in

at a high rate, and the company wanted to be ready. Although

order to streamline their power generation process and also

new orders declined each year from 1981 to 1983, the plant ad-

meet a series of new Clean Air Act requirements. Once again,

dition was complete by January 1982.

Harold Beck & Sons was well positioned to take advantage of 32

1 9 3 6 — 1 9 5 5

Above: Mack McHugh’s retirement party in 1982. From left to right: Steve Schernecae, Mack McHugh, Mal Galbreath, and Bob Beck. Below left: Group 11 actuator on axial ban blade pitch control. Below right: 403 actuators CE boiler.

33

Machining Day Shift First row, from left: Gerhard Koch, Jonathan May, Brad Exley, June Rouhlac, Mark McCaffrey. Second row, from left: Vince Gibson, John Coppens, Mike Martin, Kevin Maher, Eric Gravel. Third row, from left: Frank Urbany, Mark Mazur, Stan Visnesky, Mike Graham, Chris Hopkins. Assembly Shop First row, from left: Karin Vassalluzzo, John Padro, Mark Kutalek, Donna Pirmann, Mark Strosser, Ken Henderson. Second row, from left: Dan Covatta, Ted Artman, Izzy Rodriguez, Dan Heger, Niles Dewees, Forrest Hoffman, John Medved

34

1980—PRESENT these changes and gain a competitive edge as it entered the

No Better Place to Work

coal-fired utilities market.

When Izzy Rodriguez moved to Philadelphia from his native Puerto

Beck’s engineers knew the solution to controlling airflow in

Rico in 1984, he hardly spoke a word of English. Thirteen years later,

these massive boilers was not a matter of simply building a larg-

his speaking skills. “I was so scared about the test,” he remembers.

applying for work at Harold Beck & Sons, he was still unsure of

er motor. Due to the greater inertia problems encountered with

“But Maria in Recruiting told

larger motors and loads, special electronics were required that

understanding and so helpful.”

me not to worry. She was so Rodriguez

would accelerate and decelerate the motor quickly but smooth-

was

hired

for the job and today works

ly—a process similar to carefully closing a very heavy door to

in actuator assembly. When asked what he likes best about

prevent it from slamming shut and shaking the walls.

A motorcycle enthusiast, Izzy’s love of Harley Davidsons eventually became a running company jest. So much so that the staff finally pitched in one year and bought him one.

And he can even park it on his workbench.

his work, he doesn’t hesitate.

Soon Harold Beck & Sons was doing a booming business

“Everything. Every day you are given the opportunity to learn

in replacing outmoded equipment with its state-of-the-art ac-

something new. I hear people

tuators. Just as it had done for the U.S. steel and aluminum in-

at other places who complain their jobs are boring. Me, I am

dustries decades before, the company now helped power utili-

never bored. I am thankful.”

Furthermore,

ties streamline their operations with actuators that enabled the

his

compensation and benefits package rivals that of any similar

precise positioning of the dampers that regulated airflow, re-

company in the country. As far back as the early 1960s, the Becks

sulting in greater savings of time and money while also meet-

were offering health insurance; today, those benefits have grown to

ing new antipollution initiatives.

and 401(k); tuition reimbursement; life and disability insurance; sick

include full health, dental, and eye-care insurance; profit sharing

Engineer Brian Paris was newly hired when he first started

leave; paid major holidays and vacation; and yearly company events

working on the project in 1983. It was, he remembers, a great

But compensation is only a part of what makes Beck such a

for employees and their friends and families.

way to start his tenure with the company, having the opportu-

rewarding place to work. Here, employees have the opportunity to

nity to work with the latest technologies, including transistor-

skills, and to share the pride of a job well done. In addition, says

explore new technologies, to think outside the box and push their retired engineering manager John Mellors, you can take pride in

ized motor control utilizing the new Motorola 68000 micropro-

knowing that when you give your all, you give it to people of the

cessor. “This was entirely different from anything I’d ever done

highest integrity: “All you ever hear these days is how companies misbehave,” he says. “There is nothing like that at Beck. There is never

before,” he says. “Transistorized motor control had not yet been

any pressure to design or produce or ship anything that isn’t perfect.

considered robust enough, but it evolved as we worked with it.

You are always given what you need to do things right.”

35

CHAPTER THREE

its largest, but its product innovations had also made inroads with cement and glass manufacturers, as well as a number of other industries transitioning from outmoded pneumatic to more accurate and reliable electric actuators.

Investment in New Technologies As the company’s toolmakers, machinists, and assemblers translated engineering’s designs into reality, the production boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s led to concurrent improvements in plant operations, including another expansion in 1991. One significant improvement during this time was in tool life. Mark Mazur, with the company since 1986, remembers the day the shop acquired its first indexable carbide end When we shipped our first product in 1989, it made us the first

mill. “It was very expensive and none of us were sure it was

actuator company to have a variable-speed transistorized motor

going to work,” he says. “But it turned out to be one of the best

based specifically on that Motorola technology.”

purchases we ever made. The life of one of our high-speed steel

The resulting 11-500 and 11-600 actuators were an impor-

end mills would be, on a good day, maybe eight sets of 11-

tant addition to the Group 11 product line that became the

400 bodies. With the indexable carbide end mill, we got several

workhorse of the electric utility industries. Eventually the 11-

hundred sets.”

500 and 11-600 evolved into the Group 22 actuators of the late

Investments in the latest drafting technologies—first Au-

1990s. The Group 22 is still in use today, as is a 1980s innova-

toCAD in 1993 and then, a decade later, the Solidworks 3-D

tion, the Group 31, whose miniaturized technology was specif-

modeling program—proved a boon to engineering as well.

ically designed to meet the low-torque requirements of small

“I can’t even imagine now drawing everything by hand,” says

valves and dampers. No doubt Beck’s growing relationship

longtime draftsman Dale Shemeley. “Just the lettering alone

with the electric utility industries was, and remains to this day,

took a tremendous amount of time.”

36

Above: Engineering Department From left: Brian Paris, Hans Schmolk, Pete Yodis, John Mack, Dale Shemeley, Dan Boeggeman, Tom Borawski, Paul Jacquette, Dave Klingensmith, Gary DiMauro, Matt Rodgers, Walt Deichmann, Alex Hedash, Tom Moran, Carl Hess. Below: Applications Engineering and Marketing From left: Jay Tannan, Mike Carson, Chris Jones, Scott Kempf, Mike Speranza, Ed Piper.

Materials/Operations Support From left: Pete Indelicato, Maria Charlton, Brian Shaffer, Pam Thompson. Bottom left: Information Technology From left: Dave Somerville, Bill Short, Steve Sterling . Bottom right: Purchasing From left: Adam Miller, Mark Tucci

38

1980—PRESENT Originally hired to the machine shop in 1979, Shemeley

What Makes a Beck Actuator Top of the Line?

moved into engineering during the recession of the early 1980s as part of management’s successful plan to once again

The primary goal that drives every step in the design and manufacturing

avert layoffs. “They knew I liked to draw, so they sent me to

quality assurance is not just one step in the process, but a guiding

of a Beck actuator is its ultimate usefulness to the customer. As such,

school and I started drafting full-time.” Shemeley took the

principle from drawing board to

place of Carl Hess, who moved into design. Hess, who has

Located in a glass-walled

final shipping. room just off the plant’s main

been with the company since 1984, was instrumental in the

floor, Beck’s Quality Assurance

development of the Group 31, and has worked on every new

Lab is equipped with everything its inspectors and production

product line since, a position that gives him a unique perspec-

personnel need to verify the

tive on what he calls the constant, fine balance between cost

accuracy and efficacy of every

and quality in product development. But, he says, “There’s a

Manual

step in the manufacturing process. and

robotic

John Padro

probes

real team spirit here and excellent communication between

are programmed to measure critical features on a multitude of parts,

the idea people, the manufacturing people, and the people

the company’s material review board meets to discuss the reports and

producing instant feedback to production personnel. Each morning enter each part number’s data into the computer for access by the floor’s

who cost it all out.”

machinists.

Management’s commitment to investing in the latest tech-

Particular attention is given to the electronics. To filter out mortality

nologies continued into the new millennium as the company’s

on their electronic components, Beck currently “burns in” each of its

first machine tool equipped with robotics, the Mazak Multi-

hours, but Beck goes the extra step to build value and confidence in its

circuit boards for ninety-six hours. The industry standard is twenty-four

plex, was installed in 2001. In 2007 the shop acquired its first

product.

advanced palletized horizontal machining center, made by

check,” says Paul Mullen. “Everyone working here is responsible for

“Our Quality Assurance Department is an important secondary achieving all established quality standards. There isn’t just one inspection,

Makino, that can run unattended, day or night. Then, in 2011,

but a series of inspections along the way, from the first piece to in-process

a state-of-the-art Mitsubishi robotic gear shaper was added to

to final assembly. We give our people the responsibility of building a reliable product, and they rise to the occasion.”

the floor. These assets give Harold Beck & Sons more advanced

Each employee is provided with a packet of information that

automated machining capability, representing an investment

contains everything they need to do their particular job: a routing sheet, list of tools, instructions on assembly and machining, blueprints, and

in streamlined production methods and worker education

photos. Procedures are checked and crosschecked, and once the unit is built, it is again run through a final inspection. The result? High-quality

usually only made by companies much larger in size.

actuators that last many years with many satisfied customers.

39

Developed in the 1990s, the Group 22 rotary actuator offers excellent, maintenance-free performance in a compact, weatherproof design. Its microprocessor-based electronics makes it ideally suited for large fan damper applications and for modulating both static and dynamic loads of up to 8,000 lb-ft of torque, even in the harshest environments.

Doug Beck with Group 11 actuators.

Group 42 actuators controlling undergrate air dampers.

Started in the spring of 2011, the most recent Newtown plant expansion, which will add another 24,000 square feet to the existing facilities, was completed in May 2012.

42

As production accelerated and technology advanced, Harold

In addition to the basic production areas of the shop, one

Beck & Sons also underwent another major change in leader-

section of the plant includes a large quality-assurance lab; an-

ship. Continuing the company’s tradition as a small, family-held

other houses research and testing. There are also dedicated ar-

operation, Bob Beck’s only son, Doug Beck, joined the company

eas to store a wide variety of raw materials including bar stock

as president in 1996. Likewise trained as an

and castings of many shapes and sizes, a

electrical engineer, Doug also brought to

self-contained tool crib that is not only

the company valuable experience gained

fully stocked with all required production

working elsewhere in production engineer-

tooling, but also has the equipment re-

ing, product management, and sales. While

quired to sharpen almost any cutting tool

Bruce Beck had left the company six years

on-demand. There is even an area dedi-

earlier, Bob Beck remained on as chairman,

cated to burning in all electronic circuit

a role he maintains to this day.

boards for 96 hours as an added quality step using computer-controlled ovens and

All under One Roof

environmental chambers.

Visitors to Harold Beck & Sons manufac-

To support efficient operations of the

turing plant in Newtown, Pennsylvania,

facility and equipment, there is a dedicat-

quickly drop any preconceived notions

Doug Beck

about manufacturing being a noisy and

ed maintenance shop stocked with common items needed to quickly repair pro-

dirty business. The 66,000 square feet of space (an expansion

duction equipment and maintain the facility. Even customer

to just over 90,000 square feet will be complete by May 2012)

repairs are categorized, evaluated, and repaired in a separate

is organized into separate departments but closely integrated

area designed to provide excellent service to customers.

for every operation that goes into producing a Beck actuator.

The floors are kept clean of all debris, workstations are neat-

Some of the new floor space provided by the expansion will be

ly organized, and tools labeled. In the machining department,

utilized to create even better integration than before by allow-

large downdraft tables keep all surfaces clear of metal filings

ing work cells to be designed for more efficient process flows.

from de-burred parts. There are no blaring radios, no shouting 43

Above: Maintenance Seated, middle: Enrique Figueroa. From left: Jonathan Crounse, Frank Carrieri, John Ryan, Kurt Geiselhart, Gene Ciafrei, John Doran. Below: Quality Assurance First row from left: Jack Griggs, Bill Belser, Bharat Dave. Second row from left: Mike Higman, Dave Peers, Rick Gentile. Third row from left: Steve Cannon, Paul Sawyer, Anthony DiMarco, James Young

44

1980—PRESENT voices, and the staff, while friendly, is also intensely focused on

says. “Manufacturing everything in one place gives us a high

the job at hand. Large centralized heating and air conditioning

level of control over the process and the product.”

units not only provide a comfortable

Although the plant does employ

work environment year-round, they

aspects of assembly-line construc-

ensure the uniform temperatures

tion in that no one single person is

essential for producing metal parts

responsible for building an entire

that are consistent within precise

actuator, neither is any one person

tolerances.

expected to do just one job. “Man-

Even more impressive is the

agement has always encouraged job

fact that nearly every component

diversification,” says Mazur, who

that goes into a Beck actuator, every

himself is trained on nearly every

process needed for assembly and

machine in the shop. “Obviously,

finishing, is produced on-site. Says

that has advantages for scheduling

manufacturing manager Paul Mul-

and it prevents monotony, but it’s

len, “All our torque sensing on the

also another level of quality control.

drives is done under a microscope,

If you’re engaged in the overall task

by hand. We build our own motors

of putting out a quality product—not

and make all our own motor lami-

Assembly technician Donna Pirmann prepares to solder a ribbon cable onto a torque-sensing gage.

just one aspect of it—you learn how

nate stacks and coils.” Mullen, who

all the components work together.

started with the company in 1978,

You might spot something no one

says that those few materials or parts they don’t produce (cir-

else did, or see a way to do something more efficiently or ef-

cuit boards, steel for the gears, and aluminum for casting, for

fectively.”

instance) are purchased mostly from local vendors.

It also means, says Mullen, who rose through the ranks from

“It would be tempting to buy all our components on the

machinist trainee to manufacturing manager, “If you want to,

open market solely to lower our costs, but we don’t,” Mullen

you can advance into any position here. We primarily look for 45

good character and integrity; we can train you on the rest.”

Top left: Paul Mullen, Brian Shaffer, and Kurt Geiselhart. Remote Offices’ Sales Engineers From left: Phil Deaton (Denver), Andy Knight (San Antonio), Troy Townsend (Houston) Sales and Sales Support First row from left: Rodger Gensel, Joan Stark, Linda Schramm, Dave Sylvanus Second row from left: Brad Smith, Kevin Modic, Bill Fox, Chris Quinn, Josh Bromley

46

Top: Management Team From left: Scott Kempf, Kevin Modic, Paul Mullen, Doug Beck, Bill Belser, Bob Kritzer, Hans Schmolk.. Bottom left: An 11-160 actuator on a crude oil valve at Sunoco’s Darby Creek Tank Farm. Bottom right: Group 11 actuators on filter influent valves at the Prince William Mooney Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Harold Beck Today The company that Harold Beck founded more than seventy-five years ago stands at the brink of an exciting new chapter in its history. From 2008 through 2009, it did experience a 45 percent decline in new orders as a result of the worst recession since the Great Depression, making its first-ever layoff—of sixteen valued employees—an unfortunate necessity. However, business stabilized in 2010, and just as the company had done in previous re-

Shipping From left: Dave Bray, Kurt Geiselhart, Stephen Sharpe. Bottom: Stock Room From left: Jason McDonald, Dave Patterson, Brian Shaffer, Bill Swenson, James Begley

cessions, it once again planned for the next upturn. “We realized that a return to our record new orders of 2008 was a long way off,” says Doug Beck, “but we decided to prepare for the recovery of our business by expanding our facility. Construction costs were low due to the recession, and we had the time to manage the project since our business was slow.”

Established to serve the temperature-control needs of the steel and aluminum industries, Harold Beck & Sons now offers a half-dozen product lines serving over a dozen different industries around the globe. It continues to innovate those lines in response to market need, most recently with the all-new Group 75 actuators.

Scheduled to come on the market sometime in the late fall of 2012, the Group 75 is designed for installation in extremely high-temperature environments. “This is a whole new platform,” says engineering manager Hans Schmolk. “With it we’re 48

Administration Group Above: Karen Vanlear, Eileen Behm, Bob Kritzer, Kristi Gordon, Kelli Truitt Lower left: Receptionist Pat Cunningham is often the first voice a client hears when calling the company. One thing they will not hear is a recorded message. Lower right: Customer Service From left: Erik Hansen, Michele Lancaster, Gwen Montonario, Monica Towns

Manufacturing Engineering From left: Greg Phelan, Walt Boguslaw, Brian Shaffer, Tad Morrison, Brian Scott Bottom Left: Evening Shift Seated from left: Dave Lattin, Ed Kubowski, Joe Chesney, Roman Guzik. Standing from left: Chris Fox, James Marshall, Mike Miele, Henry Pennock, Jesse Gaun, Rob Schmitt, Mike Megali, Lane Van Cleve, Andrew Washkevich.

Bottom right: Group 75 beta site actuator on a windbox damper at the Liddell Power Station in Australia.

50

1980—PRESENT establishing a more modular concept where the electronics can

Growing a Workforce

be separated from the gearbox. If a customer wants to use it in

When Kurt Geiselhart first started working with Harold Beck &

a very-high-temperature environment, we can disconnect the

Sons in 1985, the company was surrounded by light industrial

electronics and mount them away from the heat.”

and manufacturing company left in the area,” he says. “You know all

businesses. “Now we’re probably the only fully integrated machining

Quality assurance manager Bill Belser is likewise excited

this talk about America getting back to making things? Well, here’s a

about Group 75’s prospects: “We’re exploring entirely new

But it cannot continue to do so without a skilled workforce. To

business that never stopped.”

casting technologies and computer simulation. I think this is

help ensure that workforce, both for itself and for the region, Harold

about to be our biggest leap in a new direction—a whole new

employees and help educate local young people in the workings of the

Beck & Sons has for years invested in programs that advance its own U.S. free enterprise system.

generation of Beck drives.”

As part of the company’s general tuition reimbursement

As Beck continues to serve the needs of existing clients

program for employees working toward a college degree, in 1992 it also established an occupational studies program at Bucks County

and explore new markets like water and wastewater, petro-

Community College comprising classes in English, math, writing,

chemical, and nuclear power, it is also extending its direct

public speaking, drafting, and machining. Employees who complete the program are reimbursed 100 percent of their tuition costs and are

sales effort into overseas markets. Although the company has

awarded an associate of arts degree in machining technology.

The company also funds scholarships for local high school

equipment in more than seventy foreign countries, sales were

students to attend Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week, a summer

made mostly through large U.S. companies doing business

program that teaches participants entrepreneurial skills and coaches

in these countries. The exceptions are Canada, where it has

them in the creation of their own student-led businesses. “I gained

had direct sales to the mining and metals industry since the

company,” wrote a 2011 participant in a thank-you note: “It’s not

new appreciation for the hard work individuals put into their

1970s, and Mexico, where it had some direct sales activity

always about the business knowledge obtained, but the skills that we

in the late 1970s. Only in the early 2000s did Harold Beck &

remember this experience, and I have you to thank for that.”

learned to effectively cooperate together. I will forever and always

Sons begin to expand significantly into other international

Bucks County Community college, where Harold Beck & Sons has established an occupational studies program.

markets. Today it has sales representation in Mexico, Canada, the Philippines, Australia, India, England, South Korea, and China, and has plans to expand into South America.

“Right now, 15 to 20 percent of our business is international,” says Doug Beck. “We’d like to increase that to 50 percent 51

CHAPTER THREE

within the next twenty years.”

years. It’s my function to educate new customers about that.

Certainly, the potential is there. “Change is happening

You have to get the product in front of them.”

so rapidly,” says Bob Kritzer and Kevin Modic, who, along

Yet at the same time it expands its reach, Harold Beck &

with Kevin Modic, Dave Sylvanus, and Ed Piper, conduct

Sons intends to remain a privately held business right here

the company’s international sales effort. “When you go to

at home. “Everyone is pulling together toward the same

China, you can’t help but be amazed by the pace of modernization from

Group 29E-609 actuator on main natural gas supply valve at the Tesoro Golden Eagle Refinery in California.

goal,” says Doug Beck, “to design, manufacture, sell, and support out-

the large skyscraper-filled cities

standing products.” And, he asserts,

like Shanghai and Beijing to the

to also promote the integrity of the

transportation infrastructure. Call-

manufacturing industry as a whole.

ing China a ‘developing country’ is

“The impression is that manufac-

misleading as they have a larger

turing is dying,” he says. “But it’s

number of coal-fired power and

not. It’s certainly struggling, but the

heavy industrial plants than here in

key is to get back to a point where

the U.S. And India isn’t too far be-

we start making things again, where

hind, maybe 10 or 15 years. These

we learn and educate and embrace

markets represent a huge growth

new technologies. That’s how we

opportunity for Beck. Our chal-

ensure a productive future.”

lenge is how to adapt the core phi-

The company’s ability to produce

losophies and competencies that have made us successful

locally, source nationally, and extend its reach globally exem-

to these countries with very different cultures and values.”

plifies what can be achieved in American manufacturing to-

One challenge is breaking the price barrier. “We know

day. Thanks to an ongoing commitment to quality and tech-

we’re not going to compete on price,” says Sylvanus. “But we

nological advancement in the service of its end-user clients,

do not make a disposable product. We make a very high-

Harold Beck & Sons will no doubt continue to design and

end, very rugged, very precise electric actuator that runs for

manufacture innovative products that help keep our world 52

running smoothly. HB&S

Top: Overseas sales management and support is provided by, left to right: Miao Jing and Chen Feng in China, and Rathin Kumar Das in India. Bottom: 11-209 actuator on a blast furnace gas regulator valve at Gindal Steel plant in India.

CHAPTER THREE

A Small Sample of Customer Feedback

54

1980—PRESENT

55

Group 11 actuators on raw water valves at Aqua’s Perkiomen.

Group 11 actuators on MagnaDrive magnetic couplings controlling recirculating water pumps at the University of Missouri.

An 11-409 actuator on a dryer exhaust radial vane in Minnesota.

An 11-200 actuator on a main fuel gas valve San Antonio, Texas.

Group 11 pump handle application at TVA Colbert.

Top: Dan Covatta unloads CPS-2 assemblies from the burn-in oven. Bottom left: QA Inspector Bharat Dave uses a CMM to inspect 11-150 body enclosures.

Bottom right: Assembler Karin Vassalluzzo winds motor coils.

Top left: Machinist Mike Graham fabricates a custom Lever Arm on a milling machine. Top right: CNC Machinist Brad Exley prepares to load a Group 22 shaft assembly into a vertical milling machine for drilling and pinning. Bottom left picture: Dave Bray prepares a large Beck actuator for shipment. Bottom right: Machinist Mike Martin prepares to grind the I.D. of a six NM stator sub-assembly.

11-150 actuators on flat glass lehr air control valve A Group 11 actuator on an FE coupling at NRG Dover Energy Center.

Group 11 actuator on baghouse fan dampers.

Group 11 actuator on MagnaDrive magnetic coupling in Baytown, Texas.

Group 22 actuator FD inlet damper at Conective’s Edgemoor plant.

A Group 11 actuator on mill primary air damper.

The company’s state-of-the-art Mitsubishi robotic gear shaper can distinguish between those parts that need machining and those that have been completed and are ready for the next phase of assembly.

Frank Urbany (left) and Eric Gravel discuss a job on the Makino.

INDEX

64

INDEX

65

300 actuators on primary air fan dampers.

66